Shed security

Hi all, the wife has said she'll buy me a shed to keep the bikes and other bike related "crap" out of the new house!
Result!
But what security are people using? I've got a ground anchor on its way and two decent kyptonite locks, but was looking at this on eBayhttp://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=RVI&itemId=190572288854
Does anyone use one of these or anything similar?
Cheers, Chris

Timber, then you need to make sure it's screwed together properly in the first place. Don't depend on there being enough bits in the kit to do it either. I added extra screws, plates and straps to give the shed some [previously non existant] rigidity.

I added 18mm exterior plywood to the floor as 8mm plywood is not up to the job. I also added ply to the walls for fixing points.

If the shed has a perspex window then consider adding some timber mullions and transoms (fix to the plywood) which can be effective and decorative (as opposed to metal bars).

Shed door, braced and ledged with external Tee hinges? Firstly make sure the hinges are a decent quality and thickness. Then fix with coach bolt through both door and frame. Same for the lock (if it's a harsp and staple). I'd add a second lock too, a decent door bolt. Secure both with quality padlock - Squires for eg.

The intention is to make the shed secure but not make it look like it's secure.

Internal security? Well, multiple layered and type is a good place to start. Quality base level - Almax chain and padlock through anchors (could be a couple of buckets or car tyre filled with concrete. Then a combination of quality u-locks and cables.

Anything over 13mm in diameter tends to need a lot more effort to cut through.

Disc alarms are good - se motorbike suppliers.

Good and proper insurance.

Ultimatey, if someone is determined to get your bike then they can quickly cut through the frame anyway.

n. pl. shed se·cu·ri·ties
1. Freedom from risk or danger; safety in a shiplap box
2. Freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; confidence in a few planks of wood
3. Something that gives or assures safety in a wooden hut
4. A very good example of an oxymoron, your bikes will be nicked

I should add, I spent a lot of time and money securing my shed, only to have the roof removed the first time, and bikes nicked. And then the doors totally stripped off, my locks sawn through, and all my alarms nicked, while still going off!

If you live in a dodgy area, just keep the bikes in the house. Sod the mess.

Also , most store built sheds are garbage anyway - i wouldnt store my lawnmower in half of them.

If your roof was able to be removed period id question its suitbility as a roof...

Last sheds ive built i doubt i could get the roof off the shed - and i know how it was put together - 18mm birch ply , onto a 3x2 inch framing timber frame nailed togehter with 5 inch ringshanks fired out the nail gun and big dirty screws to stop it coming loose in the wind.

Most store built sheds will be lucky if the nails used are an inch and the timbers even big enough to stop them protruding.

Think about location. Have the door facing the house and in full view of the house windows with some lighting above the shed door.

My shed is a wooden frame built from 4x2" timber, a sheet steel roof, and the interior lined with 8x4ft fibreboard sheets. The frame was spaced at 2ft centres to allow this. They are screwed to the frame, not nailed. Nobody is getting through the walls. The door is a solid core wooden fire door with a 5 lever mortice lock and triple hinges.

If your roof was able to be removed period id question its suitbility as a roof

With the right tools, most shed roofs can be easily removed. If not, it's not unknown to just turn up with a forklift and jack the whole shed up. In my case, and also my neighbours, even with thick sturdy hard wood and long nails, screws and bolts, big tough padlocks... crowbared the wood and in they go.

You can spend a fortune on making it a fortress, though this makes it more attractive, but stick it in the house and few people even consider trying and few will even know there's a bike in there, whereas they can assume something like a bike or valuable tools in a shed and it's often a quiet place to work well away from the house and street. A garage is next on the list, a bit noisier but still they often get away with not being noticed.

Breaking into a house is a far riskier crime for them. Usually best left to those desperate enough to do it, and generally they want small valuable items they can grab and run with.

Another defence is to not advertise. Careful about showing off your pride and joy on public forums, where you live in the posts or your profiles, posting routes on Strava and the like showing your home location, and driving about with thousands of pounds worth of bike on a rack.

Take a look at Asgard sheds. Pleased with mine. As above if someone wants to get in they will, but they will wake up half the neighbourhood, and then find a second line of defence, kryptonite chains and motion alarms. If they get through that lot then I'm insured....

Never said it was better. Said I was pleased with it. The noise it makes just opening the doors is enough to make next doors dog barking. They,d need an angle grinder to get in, by which time the alarms will be going off. For those without lots of time it's a good choice takes a couple of hours to build on your own ( if you have some one to hold the roof it is much easier) plus when I move I plan on taking it with me. Building my own wooden shed was an option but I costed it out as more.

Some of us don't have the space or understanding other halves to keep things inside. Locate a shed properly and no chance a forklift or van can get near them.

Other things, gravel on the ground and a flood light / CCTV. And a barky dog.

We both cycle.... Bringing the bikes into the house still doesnt compute.been there done that in our last three houses. It is a shit existnce for a regular cyclist - keeping the commuter clean enough to bring it in..... Naw yer ok. And lifes too short to ride shit bikes

I suppose if you house is crap and don't mind dirt and mess all over it then crack on. At some point I'll be loaded and able to buy a big enough house with a utility room / downstairs shower so the bikes can live inside. Till then the shed will have to do. It would actually be easier to break into my house....

Well, the other option is to keep the dirty cheap commuter in the shed, and the good bikes in the house. I had a commuter in the shed every time I've had bikes nicked, unlocked, and they didn't even bother to take it, the poofaces.

£100 for a dirtworker, take it in the car, wash bikes down of general mud, then pop them in the house.

Hora's comment

I have a Groundeffect bodybag

Do you mean, if they come in your house you have a bodybag ready for them, so they don't mess up your carpets? Good stuff indeed.

Most of my commute is off road. I just ride what ever i feel like pending what luggage i need to take or where im riding after work - been known to ride anything from my tt bike in on the road or my titanium mtb through the woods.